Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances (1921) is a comic fantasy
novel by James Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy
collide, where a lowly swineherd can rise to be Count of Poictesme,
Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances is one of Cabell's
best-known works of fiction, and is included in a series of novels,
essays, and poems known as the
Biography of the Life of Manuel. "They of Poictesme narrate that in the
old days when miracles were as common as fruit pies, young Manuel was a
swineherd, living modestly in attendance upon the miller's pigs. They
tell also that Manuel was content enough: he knew not of the fate which
was reserved for him." Unsatisfied with life as a lowly swineherd,
Manuel follows his heart in pursuit of place where true happiness
exists. A proponent of medieval chivalry, he encounters gods and
goddesses, kings and queens, as he passes from one otherworldly realm to
the next. As the chains of the past begin to fall away, Manuel discovers
that through determination and valor, he can excel the circumstances of
his humble birth. Set in a fictionalized France of the 13th century,
Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances is a captivating story of
fantasy and adventurer featuring a flawed hero whose mythical world is
not entirely different from our own. Cabell's work has long been
described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as fantastic and
obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read Figures of
Earth: A Comedy of Appearances, however, is to understand that the
issues therein--the struggle for power, the unspoken distance between
men and women--were vastly important not only at the time of its
publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a beautifully designed
cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James
Branch Cabell's Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances is a classic
of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.
